A Dutch man pulled over by officers after reportedly crashing his car into a pole was carrying a fake Boris Johnson driver’s licence, police in the Netherlands have said.
The licence depicted the name and photo of Britain’s former Prime Minister, with an issue date of July 24, 2019 - the day Mr Johnson began leading the nation.
The licence had an expiry date of December 12, 3000 and had a Ukrainian flag in the right-hand corner.
Dutch police said the fake licence was found after searching the 35-year-old’s car.
“We met a person who drove under the influence of alcohol,” a statement posted to Instagram said, alongside a photo of the fake licence.
“Unfortunately for the person, we did not fall for this counterfeit.”
Police received reports that a car had crashed into a pole in the northern city of Groningen on Sunday just before 1am.
“The driver was standing near the place of the incident at the time. We approached the person and asked him for his ID. He said he didn’t have it with him,” a police statement said.
“We demanded that the driver participate in a breathalyser test. He refused to cooperate.
“The suspect was then arrested and transferred to the police station. His car has been seized.
“He was carrying a fake driver’s license from ‘Boris Johnson’. We found this during a search in the car.”
Groningen Police said it’s unknown how the man obtained the fake driver’s licence, but reports online indicate that ‘Boris Johnson’ licences can be bought from street markets in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv or the city of Lviv.
Kysia Hekster, a former Russia correspondent for the public broadcaster NOS, said in a tweet that fake driving licences could easily be bought in tourist shops in Ukraine.
“I have them from Merkel and Zelensky, among others,” she wrote.
